February is Black History Month, and, in addition to being a month of recognizing both the unique struggles and accomplishments of black Americans, February is a month where there have been significant historical efforts towards racial equality. Here are a few notable events that occurred in the month of February.
February 1 Greensboro Sit-In, 1960
On this day in 1960, a group of young black students organized what is regarded as the first sit-in at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Many of the protesters were arrested for charges such as trespassing, disorderly conduct, or disturbing the peace, but the event was highly televised, so news of their actions reached people all over the nation. This peaceful protest against segregation inspired many more sit-ins and other similar forms of activism throughout the country.
February 22 Participants of Montgomery Bus Boycott Arrested, 1956
Along with 73 others, Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks were arrested while boycotting the segregation of the Montgomery County, Georgia public bus system. This boycott and the following arrests brought more attention to Martin Luther King Jr.’s work in civil rights, and the twelve week Montgomery Bus Boycott as a whole is recognized as one of the first sizable protests for civil rights in the U.S. The boycott ultimately helped to desegregate the Montgomery public bus system by putting pressure on the Montgomery federal court to recognize the segregation of this bus system as unconstitutional.
February 23 W.E.B. Dubois born, 1868
W.E.B. Dubois was an author, sociologist, and civil rights activist. He became the first African American to earn a doctorate at Harvard, and became a professor of history and sociology. Dubois was a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP: a group that played a crucial role in the success of the civil rights movement.
